For example, in the rocket engine known under the name VULCAIN, there already exists a device for feeding the combustion chamber of a rocket engine with propellants (hydrogen and oxygen) at high pressure, the device comprising two independent turbopumps with the energy required for driving the turbopumps being provided by combustion gases created in a single gas generator which is itself fed with oxygen and hydrogen by bleeding from the pump outlets, using a bleed flow cycle.
In the above-mentioned engine, the two turbopumps for raising the pressure of the liquid hydrogen and oxygen are made from various alloys or metals suitable for withstanding the thermal stresses concerned and they are separately mounted on a frame using conventional architecture with the connections between the gas generator and the turbines being provided by metal pipework. This architecture gives rise to considerable bulk and imposes limits on operating temperatures and reduces the opportunities for improving efficiency.
Proposals have also been made to use thermo-structural composite materials for providing the chamber of a gas generator and for providing the pipework for distributing the hot gases. The pipework made of thermo-structural composite materials is capable of withstanding higher temperatures than metal pipework, but using such pipework leads to a very complex implementation. Composite pipework requires metal sheaths to be used for picking up leaks due to porosity, and also for counteracting their high levels of thermal radiation.
The present invention seeks to remedy the above-mentioned drawbacks and to simplify the architecture of a propellant assembly so as to guarantee reduced bulk, ease of disassembly, and reduced mass, and also to make it possible to increase efficiency by making it possible to use steep temperature gradients inside the assembly while still satisfying safety requirements.